Machine for folding, cutting, feeding, and stacking sheet material



L. L. MATTHEWS MACHINE FOR FOLD CUTTING, FEEDING AND ET MATERIAL ING STACKING SHE Oct. 9, 1956 ll Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 16, 1952 s R w m HTTORNY6..

Oct. 9, 1956 ws 2,766,039

MACHINE FOR FOLDING, CUTTING, FEEDING AND STACKING SHEET MATERIAL Filed Sept. 16, 1952 ll Sheets-Sheet 2 IENTOR. Zagz's .Z/VaZI/rews L. L. MATTHEWS MACHINE FOR FOLDING, CUTTING, FEEDING AND STACKING SHEET MATERIAL Get. 9, 1956 Filed Sept. 16, 1952 ll Sheets-Sheet 3 HTTORNEKS.

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ll Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 16, 1952 INVENTOR. We: Z'Z'lzews Louuls HTTORNEYSQ ll Sheets-Sheet 5 .w MW 7 9 2 D N A G N M E m m T M I T E E H s G N I K m T s G 1956 L. 1.. MATTHEWS MACHINE FOR FOLDING, CUTTING AL Filed Sept. 16, 1952 WQ DA? WM 1 5 NW. an 0 M AQH'mWW I R INVENTO'R. Jfazih ews H TORN E YS a lgou i s G, FEEDING AND SHEET MAT L. L. MATTHEWS MACHINE FOR FOLDI G, CUTTIN STACKING ERIAL 6 t e m 4 S t e e h s l 1 Filed Sept. 16, 1952 INVENTOR lIou is L..fi7a2"fihews fl/vzl ATTORNEYS.

0st. 9, 195 L. L. MATTHEWS MACHINE FOR FOLDING, CUTTING, FEEDING AND STACKING SHEET MATERIAL ll Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Sept. 16, 1952 INVENTOR. Lozyls flaiZ'hews BY ma m HTTORNEY'SQ Oct. 9, 1956 L. L. MATTHEWS MACHINE FOR FOLDIN Filed Sept. 16, 1952 G, CUTT STACKING SHEET M ING, FEEDING AND ATERIAL 11 sheet -sheet 8 m M m arromvers.

Get. 9, 1Q56 L. L. MATTHEWS 2,766,039 MACHINE FOR FOLDING, CUTTING, FEEDING AND STACKING SHEET MATERIAL Filed Sept. 16, 1952 ll Sheets-Sheet l0 INVENTOR. Louis l. .fi/a tZ/zews BY n 2: mm m Q Q HTTOR/VE/S.

MATTHEWS ING, CUTTING, FEEDING AND SHEET MATERIAL 0d. 9, .1956 L. L. MACHINE FOR FOLD STACKING ll Shee'ts-Sheet 11 Filed Sept. 16, 1952 INVENTOR. ll. fia Z'Z'lz ews Zoga's BY p MACHINE FOR FOLDING, CUTTING, FEEDING, AND STACKING SHEET MATERIAL Louis L. Matthews, Westerly, R. I., assignor to Manson Automatic Machinery Company, Westerly, R. 1., a corporation of Rhode Island Application September 16, 1952, Serial No.

6 Claims. (Cl. 270-21) The present invention relates to machines for feeding and stacking sheet material. The invention is particularly related to the feeding and stacking of folded material units, such as signatures for use as the covers and sections of magazines, pamphlets, catalogs, books and the like.

identically operating mechanisms including gripper rolls. In due course, the gripper rolls release the units, at

constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar elevation, upon a larger scale, of a central or folding portion of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similarly enlarged side elevation, looking from the right, parts of the machine being omitted, however, for clearness;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation similar to Fig. 2 of the lefthand feeding-andstacking portion of the machine illustrated in Fig. l, but upon a still larger scale;

Fig. 5 is a corresponding plan;

Fig. 6 is a still further enlarged side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1, looking from the left with parts omitted, in order not to confuse the drawing;

Figs. 7 and 8 are corresponding front and rear elevations;

Fig. 9 is a detail of the driving mechanism;

Fig. 10 is a schematic view, upon an enlarged scale,

rates atent 2,766,039 Patented Oct. 9, 1956 8. The feed rollers 8 feed the folded web to cooperative cutting rolls l0 and 12, for cutting the web into signatures. From the cutting rolls 10 and 12, the signatures are transferred alternately to a delivery cylinder 60, and a delivery cylinder 64. The

spectively.

The left-hand cutter roll 10 is rotated clockwise, and the right-hand cutter roll 12 counter-clockwise, as indithe periphery of the right-hand cutter roll 12 to sever a signature from the folded web.

The right-hand cutter roll 12 is shown provided also with a knife 50, diametrically opposite to the knife block 43, and the left-hand cutter roll 10 is shown similarly provided with a cutter block 54,

be cut from the folded web corresponding to each complete rotation of each of the cutter rolls 10 and 12.

'The direction of rotation of the cutter rolls d0 and 1 2, as indicated by the arrows, will be considered as forthe further rotation of the cutter rolls 10 and .12, therefore, the limpaling pins 51 will carry the impaled leadthe knife '50 severing, a

web by the knife 5.0 and the cutter block '54. During the further rotation of the cutter rolls :10 and 12, therefore, the impaling pins 56 will carry the impaled leading edge of the folded web under and around the left-hand cutter roll 10.

In this manner, the successively cut signatures are alternately carried under and around the right-hand cutter roll 12 and the left-han d cutter roll 10. Two such 3 be cut from the folded web and carcutter rolls and signatures will thus ried alternately under and around the 12 corresponding to each complete rotation of each of these two cutter rolls. The number of signatures thus cut from the folded web and alternately carried under and around the cutter rolls 10 and 12, corresponding to each complete rotation of each of the cutter rolls may be increased, however, by providing additional knives on each of the cutter rolls 10 and "12, and additional cooperating knife blocks upon the other cutter roll. The knives and knife blocks will be disposed alternately, at equiangularly spaced distances, on each cutter roll, as is well understood in the art. Only a single knife and a single knife block are shown upon each of the cutter rolls 1% and 12, for purposes of clarity and ease of description only. In practice, each of the cutter rolls 10 and 12 is usually provided with pairs of such knives and knife bloc-ks, disposed as above described. The cutter rolls 10 and 12 are also provided with as many sets of impai ing pins as there are knife blocks, positioned Within the limits of the respective knife blocks, and operating, as above described, to carry the leading edges of the folded web alternately under and around the right-hand and the left-hand cutter rolls 10 and 12.

The impaling pins '51 carry the leading edge of the severed signature impaled thereby to the right-hand delivery cylinder 60, whereupon a fixed cam 52 retracts the impaling pins '51 by engaging a link 63, in opposition to the action of the spring pressure exerted thereon to force the impaling pins '51 outward. A pressure roller 141 upon a shaft 21 serves to hold the signature against the under surface of the right-hand cutter roll 12 during its transfer from this cutter roll 12 to the delivery cylinder 60. The impaling pins 56 similarly carry the leading edge of the severed signature impaled thereby to a left-hand delivery cylinder 64, whereupon a fixed cam 58 retracts the impaling pins 56 by engaging a link 61, in opposition to the action of the spring pressure exerted thereon to force the impaling pins 56 outward. A pressure roller 140 upon a shaft 31 operates, similarly to the operation of the pressure roller 141, to hold the signature against the under surface of the left-hand cutter roll 10 during its transfer from this cutter roll 10 to the delivery cylinder 64. The construction for effecting this result will not be more fully described herein, for it is well known, and is disclosed, for example, in Letters Patent 2,501,836, issued March 28, 1950, to P. B. Cottrell & Sons Company, as assignee of Howard M. Barber.

The right-hand delivery cylinder '60 is shown provided with diametrically oppositely disposed grippers 77 and 7 8, respectively under the control of spring-controlled links '76 and 75, similar to the spring-controlled links 61 and 63, and a fixed cam 79, similar to the fixed cams 52 and 58. The operation of these, too, will not further be described herein, because it is well known, and is disclosed in the said Letters Patent. Similar remarks apply to diametrically oppositely disposed grippers 90 and 9 1 of the left-hand delivery cylinder 64, the corresponding respective .springcontrolled links 92 and 93 therefor, and the corresponding respective fixed cam 94. It will suffice to state that the grippers 77 and 78 are operated in timed relation to grip the leading edges of the signatures presented under the right-hand cutter roll =12, as they are released by the impaling pins 51, and that the grippers 90 and 91 are similarly operated in timed relation to grip the leading edges of the signatures presented from under the lefthand cutter roll 10, as they are released by the impaling pins 56.

Though the description above is of mechanism that is largely well known in the prior art, there is a very important respect in w ch, according to the present invention, there is a decided departure therefrom. Unlike the prior-art practice, the fixed cams 79 and 94 are shown positioned, not near the lower portions of the respective delivery cylinders 60 and 64, but, on the contrary,

near their upper portions. The grippers 77 and '78 and the grippers 90 and 91, will therefore be controlled, by the respective fixed cams 79 and 94, so as to release the signatures gripped thereby at a level near the upper portions of the delivery cylinders 60 and 64, and preferably at a time when the thus-releasing grippers occupy their uppermost positions on these delivery cylinders. The signatures will therefore be released substantially tan gentially with respect to the uppermost portions of the delivery cylinders '60 and 64', and, without reversal of direction, the released heads of the signatures traveling unconfined to between a pair of substantially horizontally disposed, relatively high-speed tapes 280 and 281, at the right, Fig. 1, and to between a pair of similarly disposed tapes 8% and 81 at the left, Figs. 1, 4 and 10.

The further operation at the left of the machine will be described with particular reference to the enlarged showing of Fig. 4 and the schematic showing of Fig. 10. The operation at the right of the machine is identical therewith, and corresponding elements thereof are designated by the same reference numerals, but augmented by 200.

The tapes 30 are shown mounted around rolls 87 and 88, and the tapes 81 around rolls 95. The signatures received by these tapes 80 and 81 from the delivery cylinder 64 are confined during their high-speed travel between these tapes 80 and 81. The signatures are then delivered to relatively low-speed tapes d3, shown mounted over rolls 84, and 86, and disposed below the highspeed tapes 8%. The leading edge of each signature is received by the low-speed tapes 83 from the high-speed tapes 80 and 81 in a region of bend formed between the roll 85 and an upper roll 89 thereabove. The surface of the roll 89 may be provided with a plurality of preferably plastic rings 96 for softening the impact upon the leading edges of the signature as they are received from the tapes 81, at high speed, between the roll 39 and the low-speed tapes 83, and the leading edges of the signatures become gripped or pressed, on opposite sides, between the tapes 83, below, and the rings of the upper roll 89, above. Because of the resulting reduction in speed of the signatures, they become overlapped upon the low-speed tapes 83. In this overlapped relation, they are then fed by these low-speed lower tapes S3 and cooperating short loW-speed upper tapes )7, at relatively low speed, over a guide 1%, between the forward roll 86 of the tapes 83 and forward segment rolls G, Figs. 4 and 5, of the tapes 97, against stops 162, Figs. 6 and 10, on to a rollable table 106' in a jogging-and-stacking area 93. A blower 99 directs an air draft through an inclined nozzle 43 against the signatures during their travel over the guide 100.

The stops 102 are carried by side jogger blades 103, more particularly shown in Fig. 6, that are laterally oscillated by a shaft 164 through an eccentric under the control of a chain drive 111 from a motor 116 The side joggers 103 align the signatures laterally in the area 98, and back-and-forth moving rear joggers 112;, Fig. 8, align the signatures against the stops 102 from the rear. These rear joggers are fixed to a shaft 115, Figs. 6 and 8, that is rocked by a lever 113 fixed thereto by an arm 114 that is also driven from the motor 110. For the table 166' may be substituted a different table or platform (not shown) supported by the arms 106 that become automatically lowered, by degrees, in order to maintain the level of the stack or pile of signatures approximately uniform. This may be effected in any desired manner, as by means of chains 167 mounted over sprockets 109 and fixed at one end to the table or platform-supporting arms 106 and, at the other end to a counterweight 108, Fig. 8.

Preferred mechanism for driving the various parts of the machine will now be described. It is obvious, from the operation explained above, that the delivery cylinders 69 and 64 should be operated at half the speed of the cutter rolls 10 and 12. The cutter rolls 10 and 12,

furthermore, should be driven synchronously with the roll 2 and the feed rollers 8. To this end, a driven lay shaft 15%, Figs. 3, 9 and 11, that may be driven from the printing press printing the web, drives a gear 152, Fig. 11, upon the shaft 25 of the cutter roll 12 through bevel gears 151 and further coacting gears 600, 153 and 154. The cutter roll ill is driven at the same speed of rotation through the coaction of the gear 152 with a gear 155 upon the shaft 27 carrying the cutter roll 10. The gear 155 also drives a gear 3 through an intermediate gear 156, thereby driving a bevel gear 7 on the shaft of the gear The bevel gear 7, in turn, drives a further bevel gear 153 to rotate a vertically disposed shaft at the upper end of which is provided still a further bevel gear 9. The gear 9 drives a cooperating bevel gear 11 to rotate a horizontally disposed shaft 13, thereby to drive cooperating bevel gears 15 and 17 and synchronously to rotate the web feed roll 2.

The gear 152 upon the shaft 25 of the cutter roll 12 also drives a further smaller gear 19 that engages the gear 180 of the right-hand feed roller 8 which, in turn,

' the shaft of the thereby .to drive the feed rollers 8, synchronously with the driving of the roll 2 and the cutter rolls 1i and 12.

The delivery cylinders 64 and 6! are respectively driven at half the speed of the cutter rolls and 12 by the appropriate gear ratio of gears 161 and 162 upon the respective shafts 27 and 25, and cooperating respective gears 16 i and 1&0 upon the shafts 165 and 166 of the respective delivery cylinders 64 and 60.

synchronously with the rotation of the gear 3, the shaft 124 and its gear 123 are rotated, driving the gear 122 upon the shaft of the tape roll 87 by a chain 120, Figs. 4 and 5, thereby to drive the tapes 80. A further chain 121 driven by the shaft 124, Figs. 4 and 5, drives the forward tape roll 95 of the tapes 81, passing over the gears 125 and 126. The relatively high-speed tapes are thus driven at a speed high enough to remove the signatures from the respective delivery cylinders promptly and rapidly upon the delivery of the heads or leading edges of the signatures to the high-speed tapes from the delivery cylinders upon the opening of the delivery-cylinder gripby a chain 131 passing from a driving shaft 170, rotated by a chain drive 13h, over a gear on the front roll 86 of the tapes 83, the rear roll 132 of the tapes 97 and the rear roll 84 of the tapes 83.

Other types of drive mechanism can, of course, be employed. it will be understood that the features of novelty, moreover, may be embodied in other machines and in machines of other types and that modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a downward extending folder, means for feeding a web forward over the folder to fold it, means for severing the folded unit successively into signatures, two delivery cylinders each provided With peripherally disposed grippers, two presser rolls, impaling pins for successively impaling the successive heads of the folded unit rearward of each signature and for carrying the said heads alternately toward the respective presser rolls, means for sueto the grippers of the respective delivery cylinders, means for rotating the delivery cylinders in timed relation to the the heads of the released signatures to travel unconfined beyond the delivery cylinders to the respective high-speed tively low speed, and means for jogging the signatures as they arrive on their respective tables in order to aline them.

rolls being each provided with alternately disposed knife and knife block or knives and knife blocks spaced from the signatures, at relatively high speed, toward the respecthe relatively high-speed to remove the signatures tive tables, and means for jogging the signatures as they arrive on the respective tables in order to aline them.

3. A machine of the class described having, in combiother cutter roll along the said line of contact to sever the folded unit successively into signatures, a delivery cylinder disposed near one of the cutter rolls and provided with a peripherally disposed gripper, a presser roll disposed under the said one cutter roll between the said one cutter roll and the delivery cylinder, the said one cutter roll being provided with impaling pins rearward of the line of severing of the signatures for impaling the head of the folded unit rearward of each signature, as it becomes severed from the folded unit, and for thereafter carrying the said head under and around the said one cutter roll toward the presser roll, means for successively withdrawing the impaling pins from the said head to enable the presser roll to deliver the said head to the gripper of the delivery cylinder, means for rotating the delivery cylinder in timed relation to the speed of rotation of the cutter rolls, means for actuating the gripper to release the signatures when they reach the top of the delivery cylinder in order to permit the heads of the released signatures to travel unconfined beyond the delivery cylinder, a table, a set of relatively high-speed delivery tapes disposed near the top of the delivery cylinder for receiving the heads of the released signatures traveling unconfined from the delivery cylinder and for thereafter feeding the signatures, at relatively high speed, toward the table, means for driving the relatively high-speed tapes at a speed high enough to remove the signatures from the respective delivery cylinders upon the release of the signatures by the grippers from the respective delivery cylinders, a set of relatively low-speed tapes for receiving the signatures from the set of relatively high-speed tapes in order to cause the signatures to become lapped thereon and for thereafter delivering the lapped signatures, at relatively low speed, to the table, and means for jogging the signatures as they arrive on the table in order to aline them.

4. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a downward extending folder, means for feeding a web forward over the folder to fold it, means for seven ing the folded unit successively into signatures, two delivery cylinders each provided With peripherally disposed grippers, two presser rolls, impaling pins for successively impaling the successive heads of the folded unit rearward of each signature and for carrying the said heads alternately toward the respective presser rolls, means for successively withdrawing the impaling pins from the said heads to enable the presser rolls to deliver the said heads to the grippers of the respective delivery cylinders, means for rotating the delivery cylinders in timed relation to the speed of rotation of the cutter rolls, two delivery tapes, one disposed near the top of each delivery cylinder, means for actuating the grippers to release the signatures when they reach substantially the tops of the delivery cylinders in order to permit the heads of the released signatures to travel unconfined beyond the delivery cylinders to and upon the respective tapes, means for driving the relatively high-speed tapes at a speed high enough to remove the signatures from the respective delivery cylinders upon the release of the signatures by the grippers from the respective delivery cylinders, and two tables upon which the tapes respectively deliver the signatures.

5. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a downward extending folder, means for feeding games o a web forward over the folder to fold it, means for severing the folded unit successively into signatures, two delivery cylinders each provided with peripherally disposed grippers, two presser rolls, impaling pins for successively impaling the snccesive heads of the folded unit rearward of each signature and for carrying the said heads alternately toward the respective presser rolls, means for successively withdrawing the impaling pins from the said heads to enable the presser rolls to deliver the said heads to the grippers of the respective delivery cylinders, means for rotating the delivery cylinders in timed relation to the speed of rotation of the cutter rolls, two sets of relatively high-speed delivery tapes, one set disposed near the top of each delivery cylinder, means for actuating the grippers to release the signatures when they reach substantially the tops of the delivery cylinders in order to permit the heads of the released signatures to travel unconfined beyond the deliveiy cylinders to and upon the respective high-speed tapes, means for driving the relatively highspeed tapes at a speed high enough to remove the signatures from the respective delivery cylinders upon the release of the signatures by the grippers from the respective delivery cylinders, two sets of relatively low-speed tapes to which the respective sets of relatively high-speed tapes deliver the signatures in order to cause the signatures to become lapped, and two tables upon which the relatively low-speed tapes respectively deliver the lapped signatures at relatively low speed.

6. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a downward extending folder, means for feeding a web forward over the folder to fold it, means for severing the folded unit successively into signatures, two delivery cylinders each provided with peripherally disposed grippers, means for delivering the successive heads of the folded unit alternately to the grippers of the respective delivery cylinders, means for rotating the delivery cylinders in timed relation to the speed of rotation of the cut ter rolls, two sets of relatively high-speed delivery tapes, one set disposed near the top of each delivery cylinder, means for actuating the grippers to release the signatures when they reach substantially the tops of the delivery cylinders in order to permit the heads of the released signatures to travel unconfined beyond the delivery cylinders to the respective highspeed tapes, means for driving the relatively high-speed tapes at a speed high enough to remove the signatures from the respective delivery cylinders upon the release of the signatures by the grippers from the respective delivery cylinders, two sets of relatively low-speed tapes to which the respective sets of relatively high-speed tapes deliver the signatures in order to cause the signatures to become lapped, and two tables upon which the relatively low-speed tapes respectively deliver the lapped signatures at relatively low speed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

